Thursday, April 05, 2012

An Easter Pickle.

Today, the day before Good Friday, is, according to the Christian
calendar, Maundy Thursday – otherwise known as Holy Thursday or Green Thursday.
Previous posts on Maundy Thursday (here and here) explain the day and the
traditions, but it is worth quickly summarising the theories about the name
before we move on to the recipe for the day.

The most
commonly accepted theory is that the name derives from the first word of the
Latin Mandatum novum do vobis ut diligatis
invicem sicut dilexi vos ("A new commandment I give unto you, That you
love one another; as I have loved you.") The phase is sung during the traditional
ceremony in which a bishop or priest or royal personage (or his/her agent) represents
Christ’s washing of the feet of the apostles, and performs the same service to
a token number of the poor.

Alternatively,
the name derives from the French mendier (and
the English maund) which means to beg
(think of the word ‘mendicant’ for beggar.) In this context, the word references
the Maundy or Maundsor baskets or purses which held the alms given to those selected
poor folk by the English king or queen on this day.

Enough on words. I came across an interesting recipe in The Times of May 23, 1938 which
purports to be taken from manuscript of stillroom recipes. I can only assume
the connection is that the pickle would liven up the meagre fare on the last
couple of days of Lent.

Maundy Pickle.

Chop together very finely one pound
of peeled apples, one pound of peeled cucumbers, half a pound of onions. When
well mixed spread on a dish and sprinkle with half apound of salt. Let it remain for 24 hours,
stirring it now and then with a wooden spoon. Then put it into a colander and
press it down with a weight to extract all the water. After this has been
carefully done tip it into a jar and cover it with vinegar. Add half an ounce
of black ground pepper, a small spoon of cayenne, and four ounces of salt. When
carefully mixed, bottle. It can be eaten after a fortnight.

Quotation for the Day.

The very thought of them, like the smell, is
offensive....But whatever other uses are made of the cucumber, I entreat the
reader not to use it in the form of pickles. These, of almost all the forms of
vegetable substances, seem to me worst adapted to the human stomach; and I
cannot but hope will be shunned by every reader.